Pros and Cons of the Colts possibly giving Michael Pittman Jr. a huge contract
By Daniel Davis
The Pros of giving Michael Pittman Jr. a long-term contract
Indianapolis needs wide receiver help
The Colts offense struggled down the stretch and at times struggled with the big-play ability the Colts have had in the past decades with Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. The receiver room has been thin outside of Pittman and he has been the leader for the Indy’s receiving for nearly the past four years he has been in the league. The Colts cannot afford to take weapons away from a young quarterback. When Anthony Richardson takes the field again in 2024 he will essentially play a second rookie season.
Pittman has been productive even under many different coaches and quarterbacks
The Colts have had a carousel of coaches for the last few seasons from Frank Reich to Jeff Saturday and now on to Shane Steichen. Pittman has also had a few coordinators leave to head coaching jobs, most notably Nick Sirianni to the Eagles. Pittman has been productive even under many different quarterbacks. In the past five years, Pittman has played with Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan, Sam Ellingher, Gardner Minshew, and Anthony Richardson. He's also played with multiple head coaches and a handful of offensive coordinators yet still, he's been productive.
The Colts could get a home town discount - maybe
The NFL is first and foremost a business and entertainment second. The league is full of owners who just want to win and protect their investment of billions of dollars. However, with that comes the business side of the NFL. With the salary cap, teams have had to let players walk and others have benefited. This season the Colts have $72 million in cap space after paying out the Matt Ryan contract finally.
Market value for a receiver who has had Pittman type of success ranges from $28 million for Davante Adams and about $16 million for Mike Evans. While the range is high, Pittman seems to want to test the free agent market, and who could blame him? He's 26 and entering his fifth year where he's only averaged about $1.5 million per year. In that time he's proven to be one of the best young receivers in the game and will look to get a long-term deal with a large guaranteed. This all being said, the game is moving towards high-value receivers and Chris Ballard should pay the young receiver to stay in Indianapolis regardless of his "worth."